Trinity
by VinEsquire
Summary: Secretary "Walternate" Bishop has pieced together his Wave-Sink device and puts a plan in motion for the final event. He has also discovered a third universe's Peter Bishop and kidnapped him. Will Walternate be stopped?
1. Chapter 1: Three

Title: Trinity

December 23rd, 2010

Dr. Walter Bishop was experimenting in his lab at the grounds of Harvard University. Sometimes he experimented on matters of urgent national security. Other times, he experimented on foods, especially desserts. Right now, it was the latter.

Astrid Farnsworth was also in the lab with Dr. Bishop. She found her life very rewarding, but sometimes wondered how her career took a turn into being a lab tech for one of the world's craziest mad scientists. However, as mad scientists go, Dr. Bishop was quite the benevolent one. Astrid was a junior agent in the FBI, and was officially the assistant to Special Agent Olivia Dunham. More often than not, though, Astrid served as Walter's assistant.

As Walter was preparing to taste his newest concoction for the first time, he saw Agent Dunham enter the lab. Only, he couldn't tell which Agent Dunham it was. The Olivia from the parallel universe had recently escaped FBI custody and returned to her own world. Walter had nicknamed her "Fauxlivia." He was on a roll with nicknames for parallel universe counterparts, having dubbed his own counterpart as "Walternate" many years ago.

The Olivia who just entered Walter's lab had dark red hair. That threw Walter off for a moment.

"Dr. Bishop, I need your help," said Dunham.

"Of course," said Walter.

"First, I would like to explain something. Please stay calm and wait until after I'm finished."

Walter nodded.

"I'm not Olivia Dunham."

Walter was afraid of that. But he showed no emotion. His mind told him he should run away, or hide somewhere. But he couldn't move.

"My name is Patricia Dunham. I come from a universe that exists parallel to yours."

This was a third Olivia Dunham. Only, her name wasn't Olivia.

"I am a United States Marshal liaison to the Department of Defense's Fringe Anomalies Investigation Unit. One of their missions is to prevent visitors from other parallel universes from entering into ours. If one slips in, I am a part of the fugitive retrieval teams."

Walter was intrigued. So far, this version of Olivia Dunham did not seem to be hostile to his world.

"And how might I be of help to you, Agent Dunham?" asked Walter.

"It's Marshal Dunham."

"Of course."

"One of my colleagues is Oliver Bishop, your son. Well, your son from my universe."

"I see," said Walter, even more intrigued.

"Lieutenant Bishop, Oliver, has a special ability that nobody else seems to have. My world's Walter Bishop also experimented with cortexiphan. Oliver was given a dose when he was a child. Similar to your Agent Olivia Dunham, our world's Oliver Bishop can travel through universes. In fact, he has more control than your Olivia. I am on the fugitive retrieval task force because I can recognize persons from another universe. Oliver performs fugitive repatriation. He is capable of returning the intruders to their proper worlds."

Walter was surprised. He didn't think that he would ever have experimented with Peter and cortexiphan. Although, there were some very safe experiments that he may have tried with Peter when he was very young.

"You mentioned worlds," said Walter. "How many are there?"

"So far, we have identified eight. Our scientists believe that there may be dozens. Out of the eight, only 5 are aware of the existence of parallel universes. One of the remaining three is inhabited by animals, but not intelligent humans. The other two have human populations but go about without any knowledge of other universes."

Walter had a mix of emotions going through him. Part of him was giddy with anticipation to learn about these other worlds. Another part feared the possible dangers. He wondered why he was unable to discover the other worlds. He asked Patricia Dunham about this.

"The world which you have discovered is the world which is most similar to yours, and therefore the most easily discoverable. The other six worlds, including mine, are drastically different. I believe my world would be the next closest to yours. The others would be very much farther removed."

"It seems as if the people on your world have a better grasp of the parallel universes than even I do. What exactly do you need my help with?"

"Like I said, Oliver was seemingly the only person from our world who could control which universe he could travel to. We are able to monitor all eight universes that we've discovered, but we can't really travel to any of them. Except for Oliver, that is. Thirty-six hours ago, a team acting under the person you call 'Walternate' entered into my world and abducted Lieutenant Bishop. I'm not entirely sure why. Deputy Director Broyles from the Fringe Unit tasked me to find Lt. Bishop. I was able to get assistance from our world's Walter Bishop, but we were only able to make it to this world. Your world. We couldn't reach Walternate's. I need your help, or perhaps Agent Olivia Dunham's help."

"You said 'we.' Is your world's Walter Bishop with you?"

Walter was looking forward to meeting another version of himself. Perhaps another version whish wasn't as cold-hearted as the Walternate version.

Just then, they heard a commotion coming from outside the lab.

* * *

Fauxlivia Dunham was getting back to her usual routine. It had been months since she was in her own universe. She was glad to see that Captain Lincoln Lee's injuries were all healed. She was also surprised that none of her colleagues realized that she was missing. Apparently, Secretary Bishop was able to devise a way for her own memories and personality to be implanted into blonde Olivia.

"Sorry to hear about you and Dr. Dreamy," said Lee. She had recently broken up with her doctor boyfriend. It was an amicable split. The two of them had felt that their paths were starting to diverge. They promised to remain good friends.

As she wandered through the Manhattan headquarters of Fringe Division, she noticed someone new. He wore an outfit that resembled a navy uniform, but was a little different. By his rank insignia, two silver bars linked together, Fauxlivia deduced that the gentleman was a navy lieutenant. He had his face turned away and was speaking with one of the Secretary Bishop's lead scientists.

He was several feet away and she walked towards him with the intention of introducing herself. When the man turned to face Fauxlivia, she stopped in her tracks. It was Peter Bishop. For the past few months, Fauxlivia had been pretending to be Peter's Olivia. The two of them had shared a bed together. Although she originally initiated the relationship as a part of her mission to the other side, she eventually developed feelings for him. She wasn't sure it was love, but she felt for him.

The man smiled and walked toward Fauxlivia.

"You must be Agent Dunham," he said warmly.

"Peter," Fauxlivia said in a low voice, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Not quite. My name is Oliver. Oliver Bishop. I am slightly different version of Peter Bishop. The one who originated in this universe but now lives in another."

"Oh," she said. She smiled, but was slightly disappointed.

"Don't be so disappointed," Oliver joked.

"No, that's not it," said Fauxlivia.

"I know, I know. Just not who you expected," Oliver said. He was still in a happy mood. "Don't worry. No offense taken."

* * *

"Sir!" said an electronic voice. Peter thought he was imagining a hint of panic in that voice. But then again, he was aiming a pistol at the robot's head.

Peter and Olivia had just pulled up at Walter's lab when they spotted an unfamiliar vehicle sitting idle nearby. It looked like a delivery van, but there was no logo on the sides or anything. They both snuck up to the rear of the van, and opened the rear doors, both with pistols at the ready.

Although both Peter and Olivia had seen stranger things, what they saw in the van was different from anything they had ever seen before. Well, different from anything they had seen in real life. Peter recognized the robot and his companion instantly from a movie he saw as a child.

* * *

Walter and Patricia watched as a gold-plated robot and a large furry creature walked into the lab, followed by Peter and Olivia, both with their pistols drawn, but aimed toward the ground. When Peter saw the red-headed Patricia, he instinctively raised his weapon.

"Peter, no," said Walter.

Olivia saw her double, but for some reason, sensed that it was not her copy from Walternate's universe.

The redhead walked over to the blonde.

"Deputy Marshal Patricia Dunham," she said, with her hand extended in a friendly gesture.

"Olivia Dunham," responded Olivia.

They shook hands.

"I know who you are. We've been able to intermittently monitor your world for a few years now. We have weeks and weeks of footage of both you and Peter."

"Are these guys with you?" asked Peter, pointing at the two from the van parked outside.

Walter was quite fascinated by the two of them. His face held the expression of a child in a candy store.

"Yes," said Patricia. "Their official designations are X-1 and X-2. They were designed by my universe's Walter Bishop, the head of the Fringe Anomalies Science Team."

"Which one is 1 and which is 2?" asked Peter.

Walter interrupted. "Let me guess," he said in an excited voice. "The robot is 1, and the creature… the gorilla grizzly bear hybrid… is number 2."

"Walter, are you serious?" asked Peter.

"What do you mean, son," asked Walter.

"That's not a gorilla grizzly bear. He's a wookiee. These two are characters from Star Wars. This one is the android C3PO. That's Chewy."

"Oh." Apparently, Walter had never seen the movie.

"That is correct," said Patricia. "Professor Bishop modeled them after those two characters because Star Wars was the first movie that he and Oliver watched together."

"Oliver?" asked Peter.

"Yes. Oliver is my world's version of you."

Peter thought about it for a second and was amused.

"Wait, Star Wars came out before I was born," said Peter.

"Right. I'm not sure why it would be the first movie. I'm guessing it was on a video tape."

"So, X-1 and X-2," said Peter, looking at the two.

"Actually, you call them Goldman and Furman," said Patricia, somewhat annoyed.

Peter smiled. "Because one's gold and the other's furry."

"Right. Professor Bishop sometimes calls X-2 'fuzzman' instead."

Peter smiled and had a quick laugh.

Patricia shook her head. She looked dismayed.

"I guess in all universes, you are a childish juvenile delinquent," she said.

Peter was still smiling. "No offense taken," he said.

Although Patricia was very fond of Oliver Bishop, she often felt that he played dumb and purposely engaged in tomfoolery just to not be seen as a nerd. On the other hand his father Walter Bishop would sometimes genuinely engage in tomfoolery. It took her great patience dealing with that family.

Patricia continued to explain the situation to Olivia. Professor Bishop had designed a small sized submarine that could travel to other parallel universes as long as controlled by a cortexiphan enhanced pilot. However, the only person that could control it properly was Oliver. Patricia used it to get to this universe, but couldn't reach Walternate's. The several times she tried simply brought her back and forth between this universe and her own. Patricia needed Olivia to bring her to Walternate's universe.

X-1 was initially created because whenever Oliver traveled to another universe, his energy would be drained and he would be weakened for the next two minutes or so. Any human traveling with him would also be knocked unconscious for several minutes. However, X-1 could function normally, so he tagged along on the mini-sub.

X-2 was created in the event the team needed backup from someone significantly stronger than your average marshal. X-2 was considered more of a subordinate of Dunham's, as X-1 was considered to belong to Bishop. X-1 never went into the field, and X-2 typically did, but stayed hidden.

Besides chasing people from different universes, the Fringe Investigation Unit often chased after other unique threats that originated from her own universe. In fact, at least 90% of the time, Patricia and Oliver investigated events with no connection to other universes.

The mini-sub was too small to fit any more than two humans and X-1. X-2 was barely able to fit in and was quite uncomfortable in the cramped space. Patricia was unable to bring any more of her Fringe unit colleagues with her to rescue Oliver.

"So, let's take your sub out for a ride," said Peter, eager for this adventure.

"No. We should try to arrive directly at the Fringe HQ in Walternate's world. I believe the fact that I am cortexiphan enabled, as well as X-2, should provide enough energy for Olivia to bring about 6 of us into Walternate's world."

"Who should be the sixth?" asked Peter.

"Dr. Bishop?" asked Patricia.

"No. No. I'll probably just slow you down. It's a rescue mission after all."

"Fine, then the five of us can go."

Olivia thought about bringing Astrid along, but she thought the junior agent might be uncomfortable with it.

"Why should I help you?" asked Olivia.

"There's only one reason the Secretary would abduct Oliver. He wishes to activate his doomsday device and destroy your world. He thought he couldn't use it without Peter. But since stumbling into discovering our universe, he decided that Oliver would be a proper substitute."

* * *

"The entire division has gone rogue," reported Major General David Benjamin.

"What?" shouted the stunned Secretary of Defense.

"Fringe division, NYC HQ, went dark as of midnight this early morning. Their systems have completely detached from our mainframe. Division security has set up barricades at HQ. The whole complex has been reinforced with units pulled from Boston and Philly. The DC backup control center is not responsive. I've got people looking into the Texas office and the California office."

"Who's in command at HQ?"

General Benjamin looked down at his iPad.

"Their new Director arrived at 1730 yesterday evening, took the reins at 1800 hours. Navy Commander Lucas Piccard. 38 years old. He was slated to be promoted next month and take command of the air wing on the carrier _U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt. _That was put on hold and he was lateraled and reassigned to Fringe."

"Under whose orders?"

"Colonel Broyles, sir. It appears he set this in motion several hours before the incident at Harvard."

"And nobody caught this?"

"Sir, personnel transfers are still under the purview of the Pentagon down in Virginia. That command structure did not move up to NYC with your office. The Joint Chiefs have been saying for years that we are still too decentralized."

Secretary Walter Bishop was not pleased.

"Can we take the complex by force?" he asked.

"Not advisable at this time, sir. We're running through incursion scenarios. This will be a delicate operation."

* * *

Peter, Olivia, and the rest of their crew emerged on the other side. Exactly according to plan, they had managed to make it into one of the sub-levels of Fringe HQ in Manhattan. However, unlike their plan, they had been immediately discovered and an alert was triggered.

"Commander Piccard," said one of his aides. "We've apprehended several intruders. They are being brought here as we speak."

"Just put them in a secure location. I don't need to be bothered with this," said Piccard. He was more focused on the task at hand. As long as the intruders were contained, he did not feel it necessary to interrogate them. He was glad that the heightened security protocols were effective.

"Sir, you might want to see them," said his aide. "They aren't the Secretary's men."

"Secret Service?" asked Piccard.

"No. They're from… another universe. Two other universes. We have in custody two other clones of Agent Dunham."

"Great," said Piccard. "At least it's not eight."

* * *

Oliver Bishop was asked to join Commander Piccard in his office. When he arrived, he was surprised to see three versions of Patricia Dunham. Two of them were in restraints, hands behind their backs. Even more surprising, he saw himself.

"This must be the Secretary's son," said Oliver.

"It is," said Piccard. "Peter Bishop, please meet your counterpart, Lieutenant Oliver Bishop."

The two of them shook hands. Peter had been left unrestrained. The experience was quite surreal. He had thought meeting the duplicate Olivia or even his own original father had been a trippy event. This was exponentially moreso.

"The restraints are unnecessary," said Peter, gesturing to indicate Patricia and his Olivia. "You can release them."

"That's going to be a no, Mr. Bishop," said Piccard.

"I think they'll be okay," said Oliver.

"Well… in that case, I guess I'll release them," said Piccard sarcastically. "Oh wait, that's right, I'm in charge here."

Oliver Bishop gave Piccard a nasty look, as if silently saying "seriously?"

"As a reminder, lieutenant, this one here," said Piccard as he pointed to at blonde Olivia, "has a death vendetta against this one here." Piccard then pointed to red-headed Fauxlivia.

"I mean, I understand. She feels like my Olivia stole her life and then destroyed it. I'd be angry too. Vengeance is a human emotion. But still, I can't have that," finished Piccard.

"What about Patricia? You can release her," insisted Oliver.

"Well, right now, she thinks I've kidnapped you, so no. At least until you explain the situation to her. As for the robot and the… um… creature, they'll be kept in the basement levels for the time being for their own protection. Lord knows the science geeks are gonna want to poke and prod the poor guys for hours on end if they see the two walking around. Why are those two here anyway?"

"Goldman's a loyal member of my crew. Of course he'd want to assist in rescuing me!" said Oliver. "If I were Maverick, he'd be my Goose."

"Oh my God," said Piccard. "I can't believe I actually understood what you just said to me."

Agent Farnsworth entered the room.

"Sorry to interrupt, Commander. We need you in the situation room."

Piccard grabbed his beret off of his desk.

"Lieutenant, I'll leave you to explain the situation to our visitors."

Piccard walked out of his office and a few aides immediately handed him reports to review.

* * *

The five of them walked into Oliver's lab. The labs at Fringe HQ weren't as sophisticated as the labs on Liberty Island, but they would suffice.

"So you're trying to reconfigure the Secretary's wave-sink device?" asked Patricia.

"Yes. I think it can be done. If I can pull this off, we'll save both universes. This one where Peter originated, and the one where he lives now."

Peter looked at the schematics and the lab notebook Oliver had been furiously scribbling in for the past couple of days. Peter looked at it for a couple of minutes and decisively said "This won't work."

"It will. I just need time."

"No, it won't," said Peter. "Unless you can change the laws of physics." Peter pointed to three separate equations on in the notebook and said they were not correct.

"Laws are meant to be broken. Or bent," said Oliver. "Fringe anomalies unit regularly runs into events that should not happen according to the laws of science. I can do this."

Peter dropped the notebook.

"_**You**_ can help, jackass!" said Oliver. "This is _your_ world I'm trying to save here. You'd think you'd at least care a little about this, if not more than I do."

Peter was taken aback.

"The best thing we can do now is to return you to your universe. You can bet Walternate isn't just sitting on his hands right now. He's devising a way to get you back so he can use that contraption of his."

* * *

Secretary Bishop smiled to himself. Just minutes ago, he was about to lose it. But his team just came up with an acceptable plan of action. They would quarantine the entire Fringe HQ in amber and then cut out Oliver Bishop. It would be time-intensive to do it after the quarantine, but it was the only answer they had thus far. Any attempt to take the complex by force had a high degree of Oliver winding up seriously wounded or dead.

The Secretary was not aware that Oliver was working with Commander Piccard. Oliver had been abducted from Liberty Island by several of Piccard's men. Ironic, as he had been abducted by Secretary Bishop's men in the first place. At first, the Secretary had thought agents from Oliver's own universe had come to rescue him. Then, he learned there was a mutiny in his ranks. He knew that Colonel Broyles had decided that it was immoral to have to destroy an entire other universe to keep his universe intact.

However, the DC backup HQ's commander apparently agreed. The California field office split and was now fighting amongst themselves. The Secretary had been unaware of the widespread nature of discontent. Only the Texas field office fell in line behind the secretary's plans.

The Secretary was confused by how Broyles set the plan in motion with regard to Commander Piccard. The Secretary reviewed both men's service records and they did not appear to ever cross paths. Broyles had been Army. Piccard had never served within a thousand miles from anywhere Broyles had. Nothing in Piccard's record would suggest he was even familiar with Fringe investigations. Piccard had been a navy fighter pilot his whole career, serving on various aircraft carriers or naval bases. For a brief 9 months, the commander took graduate courses in forensic biology at the University of Pennsylvania. But that was the extent of his science background. This was a perplexing puzzle. Another mystery was how Piccard got Broyles' people to fall in line behind him so quickly and effectively. It vexed the secretary greatly. But he pushed it to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand.

Only Fringe units had the constitutional authority to execute amber containment measures on American soil. The rest of the Defense Department was restrained by the posse commitatus act. As all the units from the Northeast were effectively under Piccard's control, the Secretary had to fly out a unit from either California or Texas. It would be at least several hours before his plan could be put into effect.

* * *

The time was ticking. Commander Piccard heard news about the possible amber containment protocol from some of his sources within the Liberty Island. Secretary Bishop had demanded the surrender of all Fringe Division units. For now, Piccard had refused. He also now had control over the California office. However, he told the field directors of the DC and Cali offices that they should consider surrendering if they thought it they were about to be ambered.

Piccard went to Oliver's lab and pulled him aside.

"Lieutenant, I think you should consider what your partner Patricia has been urging you to do. We've got wind of the Secretary's plan to amber this whole place up and then cut you out. It looks like we're fighting a losing battle here."

Oliver was still stymied from figuring out how to reconfigure the wave sink device. He knew in his gut that if he could reconfigure it, he could prevent future rifts from developing in this universe. Peter had reluctantly started looking over the device schematics and also Oliver's equations. But they just couldn't do it.

* * *

Agent Jessup and her field team from Texas arrived at Fringe Division's Manhattan headquarters. She had only been here twice in her life. Once during her orientation to Fringe Division, and the second time when she received a commendation at an annual awards ceremony.

"You want me to do what?" asked Jessup, on the line with Secretary Bishop.

She had just gotten the order to amber the entire complex. She was unaware of the various happenings within Fringe division for the past 24 hours. Her boss back in Texas didn't inform her, if he even knew. She had just been informed that most of the division had been infiltrated by enemies of the state, but she couldn't believe it. Earlier she was merely told that the NYC HQ needed an additional reserve team because all of their teams were occupied investigating simultaneous potential rifts in multiple locations throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

* * *

"You gotta go. You gotta go!" screamed Piccard.

Reports were pouring in that Jessup's team had just arrived outside HQ. They parked their Hummvees about 2 blocks from where the HQ security had set up a defensive perimeter.

Piccard had ordered his men to shoot on sight anyone who got within one block of the perimeter. Jessup and her men were going to have a hard time placing the amber dispersers, but eventually, they'd be able to. His men had already exchanged brief gunfire with the Texans before Jessup's team pulled back. No doubt she was now re-grouping and re-strategizing. Assisting the Texans were NYPD swat teams. Of course, they were also kept in the dark regarding Piccard's mutiny. They were simply told that dangerous elements were holed up in Division HQ and orders came directly from the Secretary of Defense himself that the group needed to be contained.

"Lieutenant, that was an order," said Piccard.

"I'm going, I'm going!" said Oliver Bishop. He grabbed all his notes and schematics and ran to follow Peter into the sub-basements. He knew he could figure out the device and was determined to work on it even after returning to his world. Perhaps he would figure it out soon.

Just then, shots rang out.

"Have we been breached!" screamed Piccard.

"No! Perimeter is holding," reported Farnsworth.

Lee, Francis, and Fauxlivia returned fire.

"It's Bert and Ernie, from the Secretary's research division." That was Francis' nickname for two of the members of the materials research team.

The two of them had stayed quiet in hopes that the Secretary would somehow re-take the Fringe HQ. However, now that they heard the rumors about the HQ being ambered, they decided that that particular fate wasn't to their liking. Piccard had explained to everyone that he would surrender the HQ before Jessup's men could come near enough to amber the complex; that he was simply buying time for Oliver Bishop to return to his world. Even after that explanation, the two scientists were still unsatisfied. They agreed with the Secretary that it was imperative for them to retain control over Oliver so they could use the wave device. They also convinced a few of the Fringe agents that Piccard was wishful thinking in hoping that they could save their own world without destroying the other. There were now about a dozen armed men and women intent on preventing Oliver from escaping. The arrival of Peter threw some confusion into the mix, as the Secretary only needed one, either Oliver or Peter. They had originally decided to try to capture both. But now that one of them killed Oliver, they knew they would have to be careful with their gunfire. They needed Peter alive.

Oliver lay on the ground, bleeding from his chest.

"Noooo!" screamed Patricia. She held him close as he was bleeding out. Peter placed both of his hands on the wound to try to stop the bleeding. Lee and Francis were firing to pin the two scientists down. Fauxlivia ran to Oliver with her gun drawn to return any fire coming their way.

Oliver was gasping for air. The injury was significant. It was a mortal wound.

"Leave me. Run," insisted Oliver.

"No," said a distraught Patricia.

"Run."

Patricia put her forehead against Oliver's. "I won't leave you."

Fauxlivia handed her backup pistol to Olivia. She wasn't 100% sure she could trust her, but she did it anyway.

"We have to go," said Olivia.

Patricia had tears in her eyes and was sobbing.

Oliver was starting to succumb to his injuries. A few more gunshots rang out.

"Don't leave me," said Patricia in between sobs. "I… love you."

Peter still had his hands putting pressure on the wound. What he just witnessed reminded him of what happened several months earlier, when Olivia had told him that he belonged with her.

Oliver reached his bloody hand out and grasped Patricia's.

"Erin," he said. Nobody every used Patricia's middle name. Except for Oliver.

"Promise me you'll let me go and live a full life."

Patricia shook her head furiously.

"Please. You must promise me."

Patricia looked into Oliver's dying eyes. "I promise."

"I've always loved you," said Oliver, before he went limp. Patricia cried and cried. She wouldn't let go of Oliver's hand.

* * *

"What the hell is going on?" asked one of the guards in sub-level 3.

"All hell is breaking loose," said an agent who had just ran down from the situation room. "Orders from Piccard, let the two of them go."

The guards freed X-1 and X-2.

"Where is Lieutenant Bishop?" asked X-1.

"In the situation room, that way. I think they're pinned down by gunfire."

X-2 asked for a weapon, and the agent gave him a pistol.

"Good luck," said the agent.

* * *

Secretary Bishop was pacing in his office on Liberty Island.

Agent Jessup's team wasn't aggressive enough for his tastes. He was especially concerned because the cortexiphan inhibitor injected into Oliver would probably be wearing off within the next hour or so. At that time, Oliver could travel back to his world at will. The Secretary had yet to assess the extent of Oliver's abilities, but he believed Oliver could travel between universes anytime he wanted.

General Benjamin then briskly walked into the Secretary's office.

"Sir!" he said. "We have some interesting developments coming from reports from inside Fringe HQ."

"Inside?"

"Yes. One of our scientists just reported in. He and about a dozen agents are shooting it out with Piccard and his men."

The Secretary smiled. General Benjamin was almost scared to tell him the rest.

"Unfortunately," said the general, "Oliver Bishop has been shot and mortally wounded."

The Secretary was about to lose it, but lucky for the general, he was able to follow that up with good news.

"Your initial hypothesis was right, there are agents from the other universe involved in this. Unsure as of now whether Piccard initiated this whole thing after being prodded by the other side or Broyles started this before the agents from the other side came in. Of note, your son has returned, and he is unharmed."

The Secretary was happy to have this information, but he was frustrated that there was nothing he could do at this time. All he could do was wait and watch the situation unfold. If he ordered Jessup's team in prematurely, the shootout might endanger Peter.

* * *

X-1 and X-2 stormed into the situation room and found Oliver laying on the ground bleeding out.

"You have to let him go," said Olivia to the sobbing Patricia. Olivia tried to pull her away, but she wouldn't let go. Olivia was now trying to pry Oliver's hand out of Patricia's fingers.

"Marshal Dunham, I'll carry him home," said X-2 somberly. He reached to grab a hold Oliver.

Suddenly, Oliver spasmed to life and took a deep breath. X-2 and Olivia both backed up in shock.

Oliver then went limp again.

"Come back," said Patricia in a squeaky voice. "Come back."

"Whoa," said Peter. He looked under his hands to Oliver's wound. "For a second, it looked like it was closing up slightly."

Olivia then had a quick thought.

"Patricia, you said that I have both you and Oliver's capabilities. That I can see people from another universe, and that I can travel to another universe."

Patricia nodded, still crying.

"Furman, I need you to hold onto a part of Oliver. Any part of Oliver."

X-2 grabbed Oliver's right thigh. Olivia then grabbed his torso. Suddenly, Oliver came back to life again.

"Don't let go until Peter says his wound is healed," said Olivia. Her theory had been correct. Oliver may not have had all of Olivia's powers. But he did have a part of hers and a part of someone else's. One of Olivia's cortexiphan classmates named James had the power to heal himself if he made physical contact with another cortexiphan enhanced individual. Oliver must have had this ability to some extent. It took all three individuals to supply enough energy: Patricia, Olivia, and X-2. As Oliver's wound was healing, the other three could feel their energy drained from them.

Fauxlivia could see that Olivia's strength was being drained. She grabbed the mini-pistol she previously handed to Olivia. Fauxlivia now had a weapon in both her hands and was firing at Bert & Ernie. She then decided to give herself up as a diversion and popped out from under the desks they were hiding under. She ran across the room while Bert & Ernie fired. As the two scientists came out from behind their cover to shoot at Fauxlivia, Lee and Francis took them both out.

Lee ran over to Fauxlivia. She had been shot.

"That's enough!" said Peter. Oliver's wound was now closed and he was starting to breathe somewhat normally. His pulse was getting stronger. Olivia and X-2 released their grips. Patricia still held on tightly, but her energy was no longer being drained. However, both her and Olivia were significantly weakened. X-2 was okay.

With Bert & Ernie down, it seemed that there were no more threats in the situation room.

Peter walked over to Fauxlivia to see if she was okay. Olivia looked on and couldn't help but be upset. She and Peter were still experiencing an icy rapport and she couldn't bear the thought that Peter still cared for the woman who took her life away. Even if this woman had just risked herself to save the lives of others.

Peter squatted down to get a better look at Fauxlivia.

"She'll be okay," said Captain Lee. "It was through and through. Upper shoulder. Nothing a week of rest won't heal." Lee smiled.

Peter looked at Fauxlivia for several seconds, then looked her in the eye.

"Thank you," said Peter.

Fauxlivia was silent. She nodded once.

"For what it's worth, although I can't forgive you for what you did, the last thing you said to me before we last parted: I believe you," he said.

Fauxlivia was still silent, and she nodded once more.

Fauxlivia then watched as Peter walked away and rejoined his group.

* * *

"Talk about timing," said Captain Lee. Agent Jessup's team had been ordered to stand down. In fact, Secretary Bishop had been ordered by the President to stand down, and he was temporarily relieved of his position. Defense would be temporarily run jointly by the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy for foreign operations and the Attorney General for domestic operations until the President determines that Bishop had recovered from his "exhaustion and nervous breakdown." Close advisors to the President would report anonymously to the press that he was furious upon learning that Secretary Bishop was on the verge of ambering his Fringe Division HQ and even more furious to learn the mutiny led by Commander Piccard was a result of trying to prevent Bishop from annihilating the parallel universe. The President believed the same as Broyles and Piccard, that they had to find a better way to resolve the predicament.

Hours after the incident, everyone seemed to be fine. Fauxlivia was recovering from her gunshot wound. Olivia and Patricia were feeling much stronger. X-2 was almost 100%. Ironically, Oliver was probably the one who felt the strongest out of all of them.

Patricia had still been crying a little bit and in a state of concern, even though Oliver had reassured her that he was okay.

Fauxlivia watched as the six visitors from different universes joined hands and disappeared in a flash. She smiled a bittersweet smile. She walked over to her desk.

"Charlie, what's this?" she asked as she picked up an envelope with her name on it.

"I dunno," he said in his usual scratchy voice. "I think I saw the Secretary's son leave it there a minute before he left."

She opened up the envelope. Inside was a photo strip of three images of herself and Peter inside a photo booth. She was breathless for a moment, and Charlie thought he saw her eyes water up.

* * *

Oliver and Patricia were both packing their things. They weren't moving in together just yet. They were changing cities.

The Fringe Anomalies Investigations Unit was moving their headquarters from Philadelphia to Washington. For over 100 years, Philadelphia had been the capital of the United States. This happened after the Civil War divided the nation into two parts, and Washington had been swallowed up into the Virginian Dominion when everything south of the Mason-Dixon successfully ceded from the Union. Ironically, soon after the split, the two nations became strong allies and acted together often. They were basically brought back together immediately as they needed to ally with each other to fight Spain in the late 1890s. After simultaneous terrorist attacks in 2001 against both nations, the North and the South finally decided to merge back into one nation, and were even bringing Canada into the fold. Washington, D.C. would be re-established as the new nation's capital.

In a few days, it would be 2011. Oliver laughed at himself when he realized that a few times, he had wished his friend a Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2010. Kind of the reverse of when people would write the wrong year for January dates because they were still used to the old year.

"I guess now that it's after Christmas, my favorite song isn't Mariah Carey's 'All I want for Christmas is you' anymore," said Oliver. He and Patricia were at their soon-to-be former headquarters putting their personal effects in cardboard boxes.

"So what is it now?" asked Patricia.

"I'll say… Eric Clapton's 'Wonderful Tonight.'"

Patricia laughed. "What are you, a 16 year old girl?" she joked. Throughout Oliver and Patricia's partnership, their subordinates had always viewed Patricia as the tougher one and Oliver as the softer one.

"Wait a minute," said Patricia. "I don't have long blonde hair!"

Oliver laughed. Patricia smiled.

"Do you think I would look good as a blonde?" she asked.

Oliver moved toward Patricia and held her close.

"Marshal Dunham, I think you are perfect exactly the way you are," he said. He brought his face to hers and they kissed.


	2. Chapter 2: The One

Title: The One

March 30th, 2011

It was one of the coldest winters Oliver could remember. Thanksgiving had started out abnormally cold. Then came the massive snow dumps of December and January. It was now the end of March, and it was certainly not going out like a lamb. Even in the daytime, the temperatures were only slightly above freezing.

Oliver walked into his office at Fringe Command HQ. January 3rd, the Monday that he moved into this new building in Arlington, seemed like so long ago. Yet he was still barely familiar with the Pentagon complex.

Oliver's aide walked into his office and handed him a few file folders. Most of them described Fringe anomalies that occurred in the past two months, while he was on assignment in various parts of the Northeast. He had spent most of January up in New York City.

"Thank you, Lisa," said Oliver.

"Sure, Lieutenant Bishop."

Forensic Technician Mona Lisa Forrester was Oliver's temporary aide. She was originally in the Dominion Investigations Agency, until the Virginian Dominion finally reunited with the United States of America. Once the Department of Defense was unified, staff members from both the North and the South were combined. Virginia did not have a Fringe Division prior to the reunion, and took a handful of staff from other agencies so that the South was represented at least to a small degree at Fringe Command. As Forrester had a strong background in biology, she was assigned to Fringe. She would ultimately be placed with the Science Team, but had to do a month rotation with the Fringe Anomalies Investigations Unit first to get a background of what the other arms of the division did. Although she was a lab rat at heart, she enjoyed working for the field officer. It had proven to be quite exciting.

"Sergeant Farnsworth also called for you earlier this morning," said Forrester. "She said Professor Bishop would like to see you in the conference room 3."

"Thanks." Oliver put the files down on his desk and started walking out of his office. Thirty seconds. That was a brief trip to the office.

* * *

Secretary of Defense "Walternate" Bishop had been reinstated by the President. Although the President disliked the events of December, he conceded that Bishop was an integral part of the nation's defense. Bishop had promised to behave in a manner more becoming of the President's right hand man on national defense, and in a more moral manner.

Lucas Piccard returned to his Wing Commander billet onboard the _U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt_. Left in charge was Captain Lincoln Lee. Secretary Bishop had hoped that Lee would prove more controllable, or at least less of a maverick, than Commander Piccard and Colonel Broyles. That hope had held promise until about one week ago, when Captain Lee finally learned that his Olivia Dunham had traded places with the other universe's Olivia Dunham. Ever since that day, Captain Lee had been suspicious of the Secretary. Now, the Secretary had to deal with a serious security breach on Liberty Island. Brandon had just reported to him that Liberty patrol had picked up Lee and Agent Charles Francis snooping around in areas they were not authorized to be in. Brandon had recommended that the two Fringe agents be punished as traitors, as Colonel Broyles had been. The Secretary said he would make a decision within 48 hours.

* * *

"Son, how have you been?" asked Professor Bishop. He had retained his position as the head of the Fringe Anomalies Science Team. As such, he was always at the Pentagon, and hadn't seen Oliver in over a month.

"Good, dad," said Oliver, smiling.

"And how is the beautiful Ms. Patricia Dunham?" asked Walter, with a mischievous grin on his face.

"She's doing well. On field assignment up in Boston. Charlie's with her."

Walter was glad that Oliver and Patricia were doing well. Their relationship seemed to remain strong. The two of them had started off hot and heavy, but a few days after Valentine's Day, Patricia had admitted to Oliver that she was infertile. She loved Oliver, but she didn't want to lead Oliver along, especially since she knew Oliver had wanted to have children. Oliver was devastated by the news, and Patricia told him that while she loved him, she would understand if he decided to pursue another relationship. Oliver had told her nothing mattered more to him than her happiness.

Patricia had also confided in Walter about her infertility. She wondered whether the right thing to do was to leave Oliver so that he could be happy with someone else and perhaps start a family. Walter offered to find a solution to her infertility, perhaps with some time of advanced drug. Patricia declined, and said that she wanted to be accepted for who she was.

After several seconds of Oliver and his father talking about what they've been up to for the past month, the conversation turned to the matter at hand.

Professor Bishop explained that he had been monitoring "Walternate's" universe for the past few days, on and off. From what he could gather, Captain Lincoln Lee was in some trouble. Professor Bishop had been slowly changing his mind about Walternate, and believed him to be a more moral and perhaps compassionate human being after all. This was due in no small part to Walternate's refusal to experiment on children. In a way, Walternate was more humane than even himself, and his double in Peter's universe. However, the professor alleviated his self-criticism by convincing himself that cortexiphan was not a dangerous drug in his opinion.

However, Professor Bishop feared that the new betrayals by Captain Lee and Agent Francis would push Walternate back to his Machiavellian ways. Walternate might think it's kill or be killed.

"We must stop Walternate from doing something he will regret."

"We can't intervene," said Oliver. "There are strict rules about this. Dr. Bell would not be pleased."

William Bell was an Undersecretary of Defense and oversaw Fringe Division, which encompassed the field investigations unit and the science team. On several occasions, he had expressed his directives that Fringe officers were not to intervene in other parallel universes. Oliver even received an earful regarding his attempts to figure out Walternate's wave sink device. Although it was not Oliver's fault that he was kidnapped by Walternate's shapeshifters in the first place, Bell ordered Oliver to put to an end any experiments involving the wave sink blueprints. Oliver had fought that directive for a while, but then it seemed as if the Secretary Walternate was willing to abandon the device. The President had ordered him to abandon the device, but he was still thinking about it.

"Who says we have to intervene?" asked Professor Bishop slyly. "You can just take a leisurely journey to Walternate's universe and then perhaps just hang out there. Monitor the situation. Just monitor."

"Right…" said Oliver.

"Here," said Professor Bishop as he handed Oliver a file.

* * *

Agent Farnsworth looked around Fringe Division's main pit in NYC and felt very alone. Agent Dunham was currently on maternity leave, and Agents Lee and Francis were supposedly on a field assignment. She was concerned though. Lee and Francis had not reported back in for over 12 hours. Agent Francis' new girlfriend, Mona Foster, had called three times for him, saying he was late for a breakfast coffee date. Farnsworth said she would leave a message.

A young special agent walked toward Captain Lee's office.

"He's not in," said Farnsworth.

"Oh," said the newcomer. "Hi. My name is Thomas Winters. I'm newly assigned here."

"Glad to meet you," said Farnsworth. Although she said the words, she didn't seem to have much emotion. This was mostly because she was slightly borderline autistic. She was great with numbers, but not as great with personal interactions.

"Same here," said Winters. "Are any of the field agents around?"

"No."

"So… I guess that means you're in charge," said Winters.

"Nah," interjected a nearby soldier. "I think it's _you_!" He seemed to be only half joking.

Winters was a field agent, and technically outranked the support personnel and the SWAT officers. But this was his first day on the job!

* * *

Oliver Bishop reached Naval Base Norfolk by helicopter. It was the first time he had been to the base. It was only recently taken under the wing of the United States Navy.

"Sir," said the ensign who escorted him from his helo. "Welcome to Norfolk."

"Thank you, Ensign Summers."

Oliver was escorted to the large complex where submersible pilots first learned their piloting skills. This was his type of environment. He felt like he did 10 years ago when he was a 3rd year at the Naval Academy learning to operate submersibles for the first time.

The ensign led Oliver to a large pool, where there were several sailors swimming laps. The ensign then called over one of the swimmers.

The swimmer got out of the pool, and then walked over. When he identified Oliver and Summers as officers, he straightened up to stand at attention.

"Sir!" he said, still dripping wet.

Oliver was slightly amused. The file his father had given him did not have an accompanying photo. The swimmer standing in front of Oliver was his world's version of Lincoln Lee.

"Seaman, please stand at ease."

"Aye, sir."

Oliver went over the seaman's file. Seaman First Class Franklin McPhee joined the Navy about a year ago. Prior to that, he was a petty criminal, involved mostly in computer hacking crimes. His first two strikes resulted in probation. His third strike sent him to prison.

"A 20 year sentence," said Oliver. "You must've hacked into Fort Knox or something."

"Something like that," responded McPhee.

After he had been sentenced to a 7 year stint, McPhee had attempted a jailbreak. He was caught, and his sentence was multiplied. However, after two years of good behavior, the warden had seen promise in him. He offered to allow McPhee to be paroled to the Virginian Navy's special operations division. McPhee agreed. Little did he know that he was going to be a guinea pig for one of the division's human experiments. However, even after learning about the exact nature of the division, he agreed to stay on.

"I understand you have a special skill," said Oliver.

"I do, sir."

McPhee turned his body 90 degrees and Oliver could see that McPhee had three slits on the left side of his body down near where his kidneys were. Oliver presumed that there were three others on the right side of the body. McPhee had been equipped with a genetically modified pair of gills. It would allow him to swim underwater indefinitely. McPhee had been extremely lucky. Two other candidates prior to him had died in the experiments. Others that came after him also suffered from serious debilitating conditions or died. Something about McPhee was the perfect storm when it came to the experiment.

"I'd like to borrow you for a mission," said Oliver.

"Sir, may I ask what submarine squadron you are assigned to?"

"Actually, I'm assigned to the Pentagon. Fringe Anomalies Investigation Unit."

"Never heard of it."

"I don't suppose you have."

Oliver warned McPhee that the information he was about to hear was highly classified, and then gave a brief background about the Defense Department's Fringe Division. Then, Oliver went into the very heavy stuff. That there were parallel universes and he was about to travel to one of them.

"You don't seem surprised," said Oliver.

"I was a physics minor back in undergrad," said McPhee. "Schrodinger's cat and all that."

McPhee just evoked the name of one of the scientists who hypothesized that there were multiple parallel universes that split off when two possible outcomes of one event both happen in separate universes. It was one of the heavily discussed theories of quantum physics.

Oliver warned McPhee that he would be alone on the mission. Walternate had placed EMP pulse devices in the waters surrounding Liberty Island. He did this after he learned about how Peter's Olivia had borrowed a boat to get close to the island in her attempt to get to her home universe. That attempt had failed, but Walternate had taken the step of deploying EMP pulses that fired at random intervals and would disable all electronic machines and sea vessels coming close to the island, unless he himself had a scheduled ferry coming or going. The EMPs meant that Oliver's sub couldn't get close enough to the island so that he could make it onto the island and help the detained agents.

McPhee had offered to swim toward to nearest EMP discharger and disable it. That way, Olivers minisub could approach the island. Oliver explained that there was a risk that if one of the dischargers was disabled, it would set off an alarm.

For the time being, he did not tell McPhee who the detained agents were. Oliver said he would explain further when his mini-sub made it to the other universe.

"Are you in?" asked Oliver.

"You betcha," said McPhee in a slight southern accent. "Sure beats swimming laps here and preparing for missions that never happen." McPhee's original purpose was undersea mine detection. However, newly designed robots well equipped for such tasks, and he was in a holding pattern. His commanding officer would soon decide whether to transfer McPhee to a regular sailor's billet.

Besides that fact that McPhee had a set of gills, another reason he would be useful was the fact that McPhee was not attached to the Fringe Unit. Technically, the undersecretary's directive to not interfere in parallel universes would not apply to McPhee. Though, Oliver knew that was a bit of a stretch, especially since McPhee would be acting under Oliver's orders. But there was at least an attempt to get around the directive.

* * *

"Captain," said X-1. Although Oliver was only a lieutenant, it was naval tradition to address the commander of any vessel as a captain.

"Go ahead," said Oliver.

"We are receiving an Emergency Action Message," said X-1. "It's from your father."

Oliver turned away from his controls and looked over the communications screen. The message read: Abort Mission. SecDef releasing agents.

"Well, that was fast," said Oliver. He and his sub had only arrived in Walternate's world for three and a half minutes.

Oliver thought about returning to his own universe. But after a second, he thought that while he was already here, he would pay a visit to Olivia in the hospital. When his father briefed him about Lee and Francis being held on Liberty Island, Oliver had asked why Fauxlivia didn't try to find them. Professor Bishop informed Oliver that she was in the hospital, but did not give any details. Oliver was hoping she didn't suffer very severe wounds from back in December. He wanted to visit her and thank her for helping save his life. He had a counterfeit "ShowMe" ID that would come in handy. He told McPhee and X-1 to stay in the sub and wait a few hours.

* * *

"Captain Lee," said Walternate. "There's something that I want you to understand."

Lee and Francis were being escorted to the ferry dock on Liberty Island. Walternate walked alongside Lee, along with five marines who were providing security for the Secretary.

"Sir?"

"We are not enemies," said Walternate. "Do you believe that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good," said Walternate. He gave a week smile. "Even as we speak, there are numerous special operations that are classified above your level of clearance and your need to know. I understand that you may be naturally curious of some things. However, there is simply information which must remain confined to small groups of people. It is not a reflection of your trustworthiness."

"I understand," said Lee.

"I'm willing to forget this intrusion ever happened. You are a fine agent and a competent supervisor of Fringe Division's New York office. I have confidence that you will continue to do well in your position."

"Thank you, sir."

Lee and Walternate were not 100% that they could trust each other. But for the time being, they would try to have a functional relationship.

* * *

"He looks just like you," said the nurse to Oliver.

He was standing in the maternity ward at St. Vincent's Downtown Hospital, staring intently at Olivia's child through glass. The hospital was the closest to Chinatown. Oliver had been born at this hospital. Unfortunately, severe budget problems had shut the hospital down. At least, in his world it did. He wondered who the father was. He had thought it might be Peter, but the timeline didn't quite fit.

Oliver had identified himself as Fringe agent Patrick Knight at the hospital's front desk. There was no such person as Patrick Knight, but the counterfeit ID was very well made. The duty nurse informed him that Olivia Dunham was in the maternity ward. It was a big surprise to him. He figured that his father had kept the information a secret because he didn't want Oliver to know of the baby and think about how Patricia couldn't have any.

As Oliver walked onto the maternity ward floor, he passed by a room where many of the babies had been placed. He always wondered why the nurses did that. Why couldn't they just keep the babies in the rooms with their mothers? Oliver took a glimpse of 6 other babies before he spotted the Dunham baby. He wondered how his own child would have looked like. The nurse could see which baby Oliver had been staring at.

"Have you decided on a name?" asked the nurse.

"I… don't know his name yet," Oliver said truthfully.

"He has your eyes," she said. She smiled at him.

"Thanks," said Oliver. He smiled back.

She nodded her head and then left to her rounds.

Unbeknownst to Oliver, another person had caught him starting at Olivia's baby. It was Olivia's mother, Mrs. Dunham. She was curious as to who this person was.

After the nurse left, she approached him.

"Which one is yours?" she asked.

"Actually, none of them are mine. I just like looking at babies sometimes."

"My name's Marilyn," she said.

"Patrick," said Oliver. "Patrick Knight." They shook hands.

"I watched you as you walked by. I recognize a military man's gait anywhere. Army?"

"Navy."

"Ah, I see."

"I was just passing by. One of my friends was wounded and is recuperating on one of the upper floors." Oliver was quick on his feet with the cover stories.

"Are you in New York for a while?"

"Actually, I'll be leaving very soon, in less than an hour."

"Oh," said a surprised Marilyn. "Where are you based?"

"Far, far away," said Oliver. He pretended to look at his watch. "I'm going to drop by my friend's room. It was nice meeting you."

"Same here," said Marilyn.

Oliver walked down the corridor, and Marilyn did not follow him. As he turned the corner, he figured he could drop by Olivia's room just to say hi. When he reached her room, he saw that she was sleeping. He didn't want to disturb her, so he turned to walk away.

The nurse who had spoken with Oliver earlier bumped into him again. Olivia had started to wake up and caught a glimpse of Oliver and the nurse saying hi as he left. Olivia thought that she was seeing Peter. But she also thought she was just seeing things, as she was starting to wake up.

The nurse walked into the room to check on Olivia's wellbeing.

"How are you?" asked the nurse.

"Good," said Olivia.

"You have a cute boyfriend," said the nurse. "Your baby has his eyes."

"Oh," said Olivia. So, she wasn't imagining Peter. What was he doing here, in this universe? How did he know?

"His name is Patrick, right?" asked the nurse.

"Peter," said Fauxlivia.

"Right, Peter. Okay, your vitals seem to be normal. I'll check back with you later," said the nurse. She left and went to check on her other patients.

* * *

Oliver was back in the apartment that he shared with his girlfriend. He was expecting Patricia to return soon. He had cooked a delicious meal for two. And, of course, he bought a delicious cheesecake for dessert.

While he was waiting, he reviewed McPhee's file one last time. Turns out his parents named him after Benjamin Franklin. McPhee's parents had been told that their baby was a girl. When a boy arrived, they had to wing it. Because Benjamin Franklin was on a five dollar bill (in Oliver's world), and his father just happened to have stopped by a vending machine, the idea to name their baby Franklin popped up. Oliver wondered why not Benjamin.

Franklin was a decent conversationalist. Oliver and Franklin had a friendly conversation on the way back to Norfolk. Franklin revealed that his commander was about to re-assign him soon to sea duty. Oliver asked him if he would want to join Fringe Division, and McPhee said yes. The science team could always use another physics geek.

As Oliver was lost in his thoughts about building the personnel roster to bring in more people from the South and mix the staff, Patricia had silently entered the apartment. She walked into the bedroom where Oliver had been sitting on the bed.

"Hey lover," said the cute redhead.

"Hey," said Oliver. He got off the bed and gave his girlfriend a quick kiss.

"Interesting flavor," said a curious Oliver. He tasted strawberry lipstick from his girlfriend's kiss. But he knew that Patricia never liked strawberry lipstick.

"Oh yea," said Patricia. During her field assignment, she got very sick and had vomited earlier in the day. She was fine, but she had to buy new chapstick and there was only the strawberry type available.

"I see," said Oliver. He was a little more worried about Patricia being sick.

"Actually," she said. "I think I'm pregnant."

"What?" asked Oliver in surprise. Though, it was a pleasant surprise.

"I know, I've been infertile since I can remember. But the home pregnancy test was positive. I took one after I was vomiting like crazy a couple days ago."

"Did Dad shoot you up with some kind of experimental drug?" asked a concerned Oliver.

"No," said Patricia. "I asked him to theorize how this could have happened. His leading theory is that back in December, when you were at the brink of death and your healing powers activated by drawing on the energies of Olivia, X-2, and I, you may have also spread some healing to me and cured my infertility."

"But… we tried playing with that when we got back in January. I didn't have any power to heal anyone."

"Well, your dad came up with a theory that was a little unscientific."

"What?"

"He said that you were able to activate your gift because I was in love with you, and that you were able to heal me because you were in love with me." She smiled shyly.

Oliver chuckled a little bit. "Okay." He accepted it.

"So… you're gonna be a father," said Patricia Dunham.

"That's crazy!" said Oliver.

Later, the two of them had their dinner and dessert. Before they ate the cheesecake, something caught Patricia's eye. There two gummy bears near the edge of her slice, a red one and a green one. In between the two gummy bears, an engagement ring sparkled and was partially embedded into the cake.

"Patricia Erin Dunham, will you marry me?" asked Oliver. He had planned this even before he knew of the news that Patricia was pregnant. He knew Patricia was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

"I'll have to think about it," teased Dunham. She dropped the ring into her glass of champagne to clean off some of the cheesecake bits, and then she put the ring on her finger and admired it.

She walked over to Oliver and sat on his lap. She looked into his eyes, and said "Absolutely I will." The two of them shared a kiss.


	3. Chapter 3: The Third

Written: 11.20.2011

Title: The Third

Deputy Marshal Patricia Dunham walked through the Toys "R" Us, smiling as she thought of a Christmas gift to give her niece Ella. She soon picked out a remote control toy helicopter. The blue one, or the red one? The settled on the shiny golden one.

As she swiped her credit card at the cashier's station, she looked out the doors and saw that it started lightly snowing. She loved it when it snowed. She decided that she would take a walk through Central Park.

It was the first day off that Patricia Dunham had in a very long time. For the last 7 weeks straight, she was either at her desk or out in the field every day. She understood that she had an important job though. She loved it and felt she was helping the world be a better place.

Earlier, she had just attended a Thanksgiving get-together with a few of her colleagues. There was her partner, Agent Charlie Francis, who she had worked with for years. Special Agent Lincoln Lee was also there, along with Assistant Director Broyles, Sergeant Farnsworth, and Charlie's new girlfriend, Mona Lisa Forrester. She had a great job, a great group of friends, and a great family. But she couldn't help but feel that something was missing. She walked through the park and sometimes noticed the couples holding hands as they walked. She wondered if she would ever find her soulmate.

Oliver Bishop was also walking through Central Park. He had been following Patricia for the better part of the day now. She didn't notice him, he knew how to keep out of sight. He watched in surprise as Patricia took out her iPhone, and two men pushed her gently and grabbed the phone from her hands. She dropped her shopping bag and immediately gave chase. She would have probably won the confrontation too, if one of the men didn't push her into a nearby lake.

Oliver rushed over to help. First, he made sure to knock over the thief who had grabbed Patricia's phone. After reacquiring her phone, Oliver then ran over to the lake to help her out.

"Are you okay?" asked Oliver.

Patricia didn't say anything. She nodded, then smiled. But she was shivering. Her clothes were all wet. She took off her coat, which was soaked and weighing her down.

Oliver took off his own jacket and wrapped it around the shivering Patricia. He used his hands to rub Patricia's arms in an attempt to warm her up a little bit. Once he realized that they were strangers, he stopped and took his hands off of her. For a second, he stared down at the floor, feeling a little awkward.

After a moment's silence, Patricia asked "have we met before?"

Oliver shook his head. "No," he said in a low voice.

Patricia thought she recognized him from somewhere, but couldn't really place it.

She smiled and extended her hand in friendship. "Patricia Dunham."

Oliver smiled back. "Oliver… Oliver Knight."

They shook hands.

A few seconds later, two uniformed police officers came by.

Patricia was confused. She hoped that the individual who had helped her out of the water was not a criminal.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" asked one of the police officers.

"Yes, officer," she said. A pedestrian on one of the bridges a few minutes away had witnessed the mugging and saw one of the thieves push Patricia into the water. She called the police.

One of the police officers noticed that Patricia had a gun, and instinctively reached for his own weapon. Patricia noticed.

"I'm a federal officer," she said. "U.S. Marshals Service." She slowly reached for her badge and showed them her identification. The officers left Patricia and Oliver alone after they made sure once more that Patricia was okay.

"So… you live in Manhattan?" asked Patricia.

Oliver chuckled. "No," he said while shaking his head. "I live… very far away."

Oliver's communication device chirped, but he didn't answer it.

"I've gotta run," he said.

Patricia started to take off his jacket, but Oliver put his hand up.

"You keep it. I've got plenty others," he said. "Stay warm."

Oliver walked away after picking up Patricia's phone and shopping bag and handing it to her.

* * *

Two months ago.

"What do you mean, I don't exist?" asked Oliver.

"Twenty-Five years ago, you died," answered the bald stranger who Oliver met just a minute ago. Oliver now found himself in a mostly dark room, with only one light source.

"Actually," the bald man said as he corrected himself, "you were on the verge of death, and your father cryogenically froze you until he could figure out a way to cure you. Oliver Bishop is a frozen five year old boy stored somewhere in upstate New York."

"Then who am I?" asked Oliver.

"You are what we timekeepers call a hiccup."

"A hiccup?"

"Yes. Twenty-five years ago, there were two young boys named Peter Bishop. Both of them contracted the disease you did. One of them perished. The other was about to perish. His father Walter would have discovered a cure, if an observer named September did not distract the scientist. As a result of that distraction, Walter did not notice that he had discovered the cure. A different Walter Bishop from a parallel universe watched the entire thing happen, and decided to take it upon himself to cross universes and save the other universe's Peter."

"Yes, I remember learning about this event during one of the Fringe cases I helped on."

"The thing is, September also interfered by helping save the remaining Peter Bishop. He tried to counteract his own mistake."

"So? Shouldn't that be okay?"

"Perhaps. However, he went one step further. His mistake caused the crossing over of one Walter into another universe. That led to the breakdown of the barrier between the two universes and risked the eventual destruction of the two. The only way to save the two universes was for Peter Bishop to create a gateway between the two so that the scientists on both sides could work together."

"Where does this involve me?" asked Oliver.

"September feared that one Peter Bishop would be at risk of dying in an accident, so September also saved you from the disease. In effect, you were a back-up in case the original Peter perished by accident. We can't always predict what happens, such as when September first accidentally distracted Walter Bishop during the cure discovery process."

"So, I'm a spare tire," said Oliver. He was a little disappointed.

"I believe you are more than that," said the bald man. "When Peter Bishop united the two universes, the one where he was born and the one where he grew up, he disappeared from existence because he was no longer necessary. He had fulfilled his function. The same happened to you, Oliver. You disappeared because you were no longer necessary."

Oliver felt a little bit insulted by that remark. But he accepted it.

"And yet I'm here," noted Oliver.

"Precisely," said the bald man. "Tell me Oliver, do you believe in fate?"

"Fate? No. I believe we all control our own destinies."

"Then… have you ever wondered why some of the parallel universes are so similar to one another. Not entirely the same, but strongly similar. Do you not think that some things were merely meant to be?"

"Perhaps. Why are you asking me this?"

"Because, Oliver, I believe you have a destiny. I believe you were meant to be one of us."

"One of who?"

"A timekeeper."

"What is a timekeeper?"

"We are the people you call observers. We observe the timeline and make sure nothing goes wrong to change outcomes. You might also call us timecops. However, we almost always stay in the shadows and watch. Very rarely, we find that some entity has traveled to the past and tried to alter the future. We neutralize the threat in that situation."

"And why I am destined for this?"

"Us timekeepers, we are dying. We need to recruit some members. I believe your ability to travel between universes with such ease makes you a good candidate."

"I see…"

After a few seconds of silence, the bald man introduced himself.

"My name is Marz, I am from the planet…"

"Wait, wait," said Oliver, quickly cutting him off. "Let me guess, the planet Mars?"

"Not exactly," said Marz. "I am named after the German month of March. Us timekeepers are from a different galaxy."

"Then why do you look human?"

"We take this form so as not to startle you."

"You look a little different from the other observers in our Fringe files."

"How many have you seen?"

"Two, maybe three."

"How am I different?"

"Well, for one thing, I recognize your face. You resemble Captain Picard from the starship Enterprise."

"Right, I took this image so it would seem familiar to you. Was that not wise?"

"Just… strange."

Another bald figure came into view.

"This is my partner, Avril," said Marz. Oliver also recognized this other person's face. She resembled another Star Trek character, from an earlier movie. The character's name was Lieutenant Ilia.

Avril nodded at Oliver to acknowledge him.

"And you think I should be one of you?" asked Oliver.

"Yes," responded Marz.

"Would I be bald?" asked Oliver.

"No, no," said Marz as he shook his head. We are like this because we can't produce hair."

That was one of the small differences between Marz and the image of Captain Picard. Picard had a little bit of hair, and also had eyebrows.

"So…. When would my timecop training begin?" asked Oliver.

"It already has. We timekeepers are usually deployed to the various parallel universes in teams of three. You are now our third."

* * *

"I am sorry you are no longer with her," said Marz. He had noticed Oliver following Patricia into Central Park.

"It's okay," he said.

"You know, we can take her to our world as well."

"No, no. It's better this way. This is where she belongs," said Oliver.

"Or, we could erase your memory of her," suggested Marz.

Oliver shook his head. He would rather have the memories than nothing at all.

Marz, Avril, and Oliver had just completed one of their missions and was about to gate back to their home realm. Before they did, Oliver had requested half a day to catch up with Patricia. The time now arrived for the three timekeepers to return home.

* * *

"Who is that?" asked Lincoln Lee during a briefing at Fringe Division's NYC field office.

"We believe he is an observer," said Broyles. He was giving the briefing to Agents Lee, Francis, Dunham, and Farnsworth. Professor Bishop had been briefed earlier.

"He doesn't look like any of the others that we've seen," commented Farnsworth.

The image was of Oliver Bishop. Patricia Dunham recognized him as the man she met at the park.

"His name is Ollie. I don't think he's an observer," said Dunham.

"You know him?" asked Francis.

"We met briefly two days ago."

"Well, Oliver is his name all right," said Broyles. "We ran facial recognition and extrapolated from childhood photos. That man is how Oliver Bishop would appear if he had grown up to be an adult."

Professor Walter Bishop had been very surprised to hear that a few hours ago. He double checked his cryogenics facility, and confirmed that his son was still in stasis.

"Thus far, he does not seem to be a threat. Like the other observers that we've detected, they seem to be mere bystanders during major events. There is some indication that they get involved, but thus far, they have not harmed anyone. This briefing is to familiarize the fringe NYC field team with the discovery of this new fourth observer."

Fringe Division had yet to capture the image of Marz or Avril. In their files, they had the image of August, September, and December. They determined that December held somewhat of a leadership role.

* * *

"She's in the tunnels!" reported Agent Francis, who was hot on the heels of a shapeshifter the Fringe field team had been tracking.

Deputy Marshal Dunham ran about 3 seconds right behind Francis. Agent Lee was in the mobile command unit monitoring the situation.

"Make sure they stop all the subways in that tunnel," Lee ordered. One of FBI agents got into contact with subway dispatch and had them halt all the number 6 trains on the Lexington Line.

Agent Lee ran out of the mobile trailer and headed toward the nearest subway station.

* * *

Marz watched as Dunham ran through the darkened tunnels with her pistol drawn. He knew she was a trained professional, but he knew that Oliver worried about her sometimes.

Unbeknownst to Francis and Dunham, the shapeshifter Nadine was not the only shapeshifter in the tunnels. There were four of them.

As Dunham raced through the tunnels following Francis, something caught the corner of her eye. She immediately shifted direction to chase after the other figure.

It was a good thing that Marz had decided to watch over Dunham on this particular day. He had ordered Oliver not to spend too much time watching over her and he himself didn't want to spend time doing that. But he had a feeling he should today.

Marz watched two shapeshifters overcome Dunham and one of them was about to absorb Dunham's DNA in order to take her identity. Marz stepped in and subdued the shapeshifter. As the second shapeshifter prepared to tackle Marz, Marz took out a stun weapon and fired. He hit the shapeshifter squarely in the chest, but the shapeshifter did not go down, and instead ran away.

After the threat disappeared, Marz returned his attention to Patricia Dunham. She was gravely injured. He reached into her pocket for her cell phone, but it was having trouble finding a signal this far down in the tunnels. He carried her out of the tunnel to the nearest subway station and left her on the platform. He then walked to the nearest police officer informed him that there was a woman unconscious near the east end.

* * *

"Don't you think that should be her choice to make?" asked Avril.

Oliver shook his head.

Avril and Marz had considered allowing Patricia to leave Earth and join Oliver in the dimension which he now called home. Oliver insisted that his timekeeper partners leave her alone.

"This isn't just for you," said Marz. Part of his intention was to make Oliver a happier person. More importantly, his intention was to decrease the amount of distraction or worry that Oliver had over his former fiancée from time to time. Thus far, Oliver had performed admirably in the field. However, Marz wanted to head off any potential problems.

Avril and Marz had asked Oliver what he thought about showing Patricia Dunham her alternate life which happened before Peter Bishop had united his two universes and made Oliver unnecessary. Marz had made the decision to show her this life even before Oliver had the chance to object.

In fact, she wasn't just shown her alternate life, she was able to experience parts of it. It was a very unique contraption that the timekeepers had that let people experience a story through all their senses.

In a brief 20 minutes, she experienced her interactions with Lieutenant Oliver Bishop during the past three years of her alternate timeline.

Patricia had already made the decision to join Oliver in the realm of the observers/timekeepers. She knew they were meant to be. She was also amused by the fact that some of their friends had called them Trish and Ollie, and crushed the two names together to call the pair "trolley."

* * *

Oliver Bishop tried to convince Patricia not to agree.

"Don't do this," he said. "You shouldn't have to give up your friends, your family, your life."

"_**You're **_my life," said Patricia. She wanted to go with Oliver. The two of them spent the night together and Oliver hadn't felt as happy in a long time.

The two of them held each other for a while, but Oliver knew what he would do. He would erase Patricia's memory of him so that she wouldn't feel obligated to leave with him and she could live a normal life. But before he erased her memory, he would spend one last day with her and cherish the moment.

Marz and Avril intervened. They were able to convince Patricia that her service to the Fringe Division was very important, and that if she disappeared from her unit, it would place her world in danger. She was needed in her world. She reluctantly agreed that her service in the Fringe unit was more important than her own desire to be with her soulmate. Of course, she wished she could have both.

They decided that it would be okay for Patricia to retain her memories of Oliver from an alternate universe and even her memories of what little she had learned about the timekeepers.

Oliver could visit her once in a while. She could pretend as if Oliver was stationed on a submarine and was at sea for long stretches of the year.

At the end of the evening, Oliver walked with Patricia back to her apartment in Manhattan.

"I'll see you in a couple of months," said Oliver.

Patricia nodded, and then smiled.

Oliver was about to walk away, knowing that it would be a few years before he got to see his soulmate again. Although, timekeepers aged much slower, and experienced time differently. In fact, from Patricia's perspective, it would probably only be a little over a month. But Oliver will have done many things in several different parallel universes between now and the next time he returned to Patricia.

They kissed briefly for one last time before Oliver had to leave.

"I love you," said Oliver.

"I love you back," said his soulmate.


End file.
